A Castaway's Life For Me
by Florencia7
Summary: Sparrabeth. Post-HWMB? Jack and Elizabeth revisit the rum-runners' island with their five-year-old son...


A/N: Finally! A post-HWMB? one-shot! :) I'm sorry it took me such a long time to come up with this;)

The story (except for the prologue) takes place more or less 5 years after the end of _Have We Met Before?_

If you haven't read _HWMB?_ just note two simple Sparrabeth facts: Jack and Elizabeth are happily & legally married, and they have a son named Blaxton:)

Disclaimer: PotC belong to Disney.

**A Castaway's Life For Me**

**Prologue**

_(During AWE, after the farewell of Governor Swann...)_

He crosses the deck, and makes his way through the mist of her desolate thoughts, sits down next to her on the steps, a half-empty bottle of rum in his hand.

She does not look at him, traces of dried salt stinging her skin in the dead, cool wind, stars hanging above like unshed tears, glittering shards of hope, signs out of reach.

He stares into the distance, into the implacable night of the Locker that holds no dreams – only memories, haunting and cold like the days to come.

"You couldn't have done anything." His voice is distant, a disinterested whisper, hot against her cheek-

She turns her head abruptly, and finds him looking at her, face made out of contradictions, eyes sable like midnight skies from fairy tales.

"I shouldn't have done... so many things," she breathes, surprised by the involuntary soundlessness of her own voice.

"Shouldn't have burned me _hea_r_t_um," he murmurs quietly into the wind, and looks away, taking a swig from his bottle.

She blinks, not trusting her senses anymore, uncertain what she had heard... what he had said...

"I saved one bottle," she says in a low voice after a pause, and he looks at her again. "On the island," she answers his questioning gaze, her lips hardly moving; she does not remember how to smile anymore. "If the ship wouldn't have come... I saved one bottle," she trails off, and averts her eyes, but then there is his hand on her face, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, and her eyes shift back to him.

"Would be a shame to waste it. Need to go back there one day," he says with an astonishing smile that for a split second throws her into the green gables and blue waters of the past.

She looks at him in silence, and he holds her gaze. After a moment he staggers to his feet, and walks away, leaving her with a half-full bottle of rum in her hand.

**Chapter 1**

_(Post-HWMB?, 5 years after the end of the story...)_

"So..." Blaxton placed his foot next to Jack's, and put a finger to his chin. "Dad's one step is two mine. Right, Mum?"

Elizabeth tilted her head to the side. "More or less," she said glancing at Jack with a smile.

"Now, if I only remembered which tree it was..." said Jack, twitching his nose, and taking a seemingly uncertain look around.

"Dad!" exclaimed Blaxton, half-aghast, half-amused.

"Ask Mum where it is. She was the one who burned the rum. She surely remembers where it was hidden," said Jack with a shrug, shooting Elizabeth a pretendedly angry look.

Blaxton turned to Elizabeth, wide-eyed. "No, she didn't," he said, laughing, but Elizabeth only haughtily crossed her arms over her chest, and thrust up her chin. "Mum?" Blaxton walked up to her, eyes sparkling with disbelief. "You burned Dad's rum?!" he asked incredulously, grinning.

"Aye. 'Course she did. An' all of it, too," said Jack, hardly keeping a straight face.

"Not all of it!," interrupted him Elizabeth defensively, while Blaxton who stood between them kept shifting his eyes from one to the other in amazement. "I told you I saved one bottle. And if you could only remember where the cache was we could easily find it. It's not my fault you have such a bad memory," Elizabeth pursed her lips, and looked at him, squinting.

"Oh, I won't say a word about the history of memory problems in our family," said Jack, widening his eyes at her. Elizabeth bit back a smile, and instead looked at him with mock indignation, hastily picking up a coconut that lay next to her feet, and raising her hand, about to throw the fruit at him.

"Alright, alright!" Blaxton waved his hands in the air in apparent exhaustion. "Calm down," he said slowly. "Let's look for the tree, alright?" he said glancing at his parents, who stared at him for a moment, before bursting out laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked the five-year-old, wrinkling his forehead in confusion.

"Aye, let's look for the tree," said Jack, clearing his throat, and looking around with great interest while still exchanging amused looks with Elizabeth. "Ah! Here it is!," he exclaimed after a brief scrutiny of their surroundings, approaching one of the trees, and knocking on it. "Yep, that's the one!"

Blaxton's eyes widened in excitement, and he ran to the tree as fast as he could. "Four steps, right?" he asked impatiently, positioning himself next to the tree. "So it will be eight..." he whispered to himself, and began taking long steps away from the tree. After eight steps he stopped, and stomped his foot with a concentrated look on his face. Then suddenly his face brightened. "It's here, it's here!" he shouted gesturing for Jack and Elizabeth to come closer.

* * *

"Are you going to drink it?" asked Blaxton, glancing at the bottle of rum in his father's hand as if it was the most peculiar and mysterious kind of treasure.

"No. I'm going to hide it somewhere so yer Mum won't burn it," answered Jack matter-of-factly, as they were walking toward the sea.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, lacing her hand through Jack's arm.

Blaxton giggled. "I can't believe you did that, Mum!" he said, still finding the idea exceptionally funny, and stepping in front of his parents, for a moment walking backwards while looking at them.

"There are many more interesting things yer Mum did, I assure ye," said Jack, squinting.

Elizabeth glanced at him, horrified, and hit him on the shoulder. "Don't you dare," she whispered into his ear.

"Why not?" Jack gave her a puzzled look filled with all innocence he could muster.

"Why not?!" Elizabeth stared at him wide-eyed.

"Um... Mum? Dad?" Blaxton's hesitant voice drew their attention when the child tugged on their sleeves, his eyes scanning the horizon intently.

"What is-" started Jack, but stopped in mid-sentence.

Elizabeth followed his gaze, and blinked.

"Do you see what I see?" asked Blaxton, searching the waterline.

"Ye mean do we not see what ye don't see," muttered Jack, blinking in stupefaction.

"Yes," Blaxton laughed briefly, but then extended his hands in a gesture of hopelessness, and asked in a loud voice: "Where is our ship?!"

**Chapter 2**

"Jack, don't be a child," Elizabeth extended her hand, looking at Jack expectantly. "Give me the bottle."

"No," Jack hid the bottle under his arm with a pout.

"Jack, we'll start the fire much faster that way. Just a couple of drops-"

"No," Jack shook his head. "Last time ye were in charge of the rum it was _all_ gone by morning."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, and sighed in exasperation. "Jack. We need to start the fire, it's getting dark."

"There are many ways of startin' the fire that don't involve burnin' me rum," insisted Jack with a very unhappy expression on his face.

"Fine," Elizabeth threw a piece of wood she was holding into the already high pile the three of them had gathered. "Start the fire," she commanded and stormed off toward the sea with an angry huff.

"Where did Mum go?" asked Blaxton, walking up to Jack from among the trees, and carrying a bunch of sticks in his arms.

"Check whether," Jack glanced over his shoulder at Elizabeth who walked along the waterline, kicking the sand and splashing the water around. "To check whether maybe at least our longboat drifted back to us."

Blaxton scanned the darkening horizon sceptically. "I don't think it will drift back. I think it sailed away with the tide," he stated expertly, dropping the wood to the ground, and brushing his hands against one another.

"And this is a very good point," said Jack, narrowing his eyes, and shaking his finger at his son in agreement. "I shall go tell her that." Blaxton nodded with a smile. "Here," after a brief scrutiny of their surroundings Jack picked up two stones, and gave them to Blaxton. "Start the fire, mate. And keep a watchful eye on this," he added, half-burying the bottle of rum in the sand. "Be right back," said Jack, heading toward the sea and Elizabeth.

Blaxton followed him with his eyes for a moment, then sat down cross-legged in the sand, looked at the stones, looked at the pile of wood, and then at the stones in his hands again. He stroke them against each other a few times, and twitched his nose with a sigh.

And then he looked at the bottle of rum – and smiled.

* * *

"Lizzie..."

Elizabeth swirled around, and thrust up her chin. "What do you wa-"

Jack's arms wrapped around her waist, and he swiftly pulled her into his arms, his lips meeting hers in a fierce kiss.

"Me or the rum. Choose," whispered Elizabeth breaking the kiss.

Jack smiled, brushing his lips against hers. "Do ye mean this one solitary bottle, luv? 'Cause if ye mean all the rum in the world, I'll need more time to make the decision."

She slapped him lightly on the cheek, and then cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. "Bloody rum-soaked pirate," she murmured, sliding her hands over his shoulders.

"Bloody rum-burning... pirate," he retorted, brushing her hair behind her ears and leaning down-

A loud explosion caused them both to jump, and turn away from the sea abruptly.

"I did it! I did it!" Blaxton came running across the beach, waving his hands in the air.

"See?" Jack looked at Elizabeth triumphantly. "I told ye there are better ways of starting the fire than burning the rum. Tell Mum how did ye start the fire," said Jack, grabbing Blaxton by his shoulders and placing him in front of him so he stood with his face turned to Elizabeth.

"Well, I started scratching those rocks against each other," said Blaxton, mimicking his own gestures. Jack flashed Elizabeth another complacent smirk, tapping the child's shoulders with appreciation. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. "But it was kind of hard, and the sparks were really tiny," he said matter-of-factly with a grimace. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, and glanced at Jack who still had a happy smile on his face, obviously not anticipating what was to come. "So I sprinkled a few drops of rum on the wood, and it caught a little spark from the rocks, and exploded!" he finished enthusiastically, and Elizabeth tried very hard not to burst out laughing at the sight of Jack's horrified facial expression.

After a moment of silence, Jack swirled Blaxton around, and leaned down looking him deeply in the eyes. "Ye burned the rum?!" he asked with hints of dread and disbelief in his voice.

Blaxton blinked. "Just a few drops," he explained, gesticulating. "And Mum was right, it does burn well," he said with sincere admiration, glancing over his shoulder at Elizabeth who stood with her head in her hands, peering through her fingers and giggling under her breath.

Jack stared at his son with wide eyes. "Here," he said, trying to regain his composure. He swirled Blaxton around once again, and pushed him into Elizabeth's arms. "Take _your_ son. I'm going to save the remnants of me rum," he said with a pout, half-running toward the bonfire.

"There will be no living with Dad after that," said Elizabeth with a sigh, taking Blaxton's hand in hers, and walking with him toward their little camp.

**Chapter 3**

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!" Blaxton kept running in circles around the fire, laughing, picking up the flames with random sticks, and watching them burn for a while before dousing them in the sand.

Elizabeth sang fragments of the song along with him, watching him, and shooting surreptitious glances at Jack who was sitting across from her on the other side of the fire with his back resting against the tree. He had refused to sing with them, or even eat the fish they had caught earlier. His hat was covering his eyes, his hands holding his precious bottle of rum with endearing protectiveness.

After a moment of consideration, Elizabeth staggered to her feet, walked over to Jack, and sat down next to him. He did not stir, or removed his hat, or made any other indication that he acknowledged her sitting beside him. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him, and rested her chin on his shoulder. He slightly moved his shoulder, as if trying to shook her chin off it.

"You'll do it one more time, and I'll tell Blaxton we're going to have a story night, and he doesn't have to sleep tonight _at all_," she whispered, putting her chin on Jack's shoulder once again.

He went so still, that if it was not for his rhythmically rising and falling chest, she could not be sure he was still alive. She turned her head, kissed his neck with a smile, and rose from the ground. "I think it's the time to rest a bit," she called to Blaxton who seemed unhappy about that only until Elizabeth tucked him comfortably into Jack's coat splayed on the ground.

"Mum, I don't want to go to sleep yet..." he muttered with a small pout in an exhausted tone of voice, his head lolling to the side, sleep claiming him as soon as he closed his brown eyes. Elizabeth leaned down, brushed a few strands of black hair off his forehead, and kissed him on the cheek.

Slowly, she stood up, and walked past the dwindling fire toward Jack. She sat down, took his hat off his head, and put it next to him. His eyes were closed, and he apparently pretended to be asleep. She looked at him for a moment, before raising her hand and outlining the contour of his lips with her fingertips. His nose twitched, but he did not open his eyes.

"Oh Jack, you surely don't mean to be upset over several drops of rum," she lightly pressed her lips to his cheek, "do you?" She smirked inwardly at the ghost of a smile that flitted across his face.

Jack cleared his throat. "I may consider accepting an apology," he muttered at last with mild interest.

"From me?" Elizabeth drew back, indicating herself with a surprised expression on her face. "I didn't burn your rum this time," she said with pretended seriousness.

"But yer son did," retorted Jack with a pout.

Elizabeth sighed in exasperation, stood up, stepped over Jack's legs, and sat down straddling him, which caused his eyes to finally snap open. "Our son," said Elizabeth, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, and shaking him lightly.

"Our son," said Jack, pouting even more. "He must've taken more after ye, if he enjoys burnin' me rum."

"You should be proud he started the fire all by himself, regardless the method," Elizabeth slid her hands down his chest, and then under his shirt, and up again.

"I have to say last time my rum got burnt, the aftermath was infinitely less..." Jack raised his hands to allow Elizabeth take off his shirt, "promising," he smirked, sifting her hair through his fingers.

"Well, it was your own fault," she whispered, leaning closer. "If you didn't drink it in the first place..." she brushed her lips against his. "You wouldn't have passed out..." she smiled. "And if you wouldn't have passed out..."

He grinned, and stroked the side of her face with the back of his hand. "Me little buccaneering liar. Ye wouldn't have let me do a thing," he wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her into a kiss.

"You're very wrong. I would've let you..." she narrowed her eyes in thought, "kiss me," she pressed her lips to his, and smiled against his lips.

His hands sneaked around her waist, and he deftly started untying the laces on the back of her dress as they kissed with increasing fervor. Elizabeth glided her open palms over Jack's shoulders, and-

"Um... Mum? Dad? What are you doing?"

Jack and Elizabeth stiffened.

Jack cleared his throat. "I've got something in me eye," he said opening his eyes very wide, and blinking. "an' Mum is-"

"...getting it out," Elizabeth finished enthusiastically, moving her hands to Jack's face, and pretending to look very intensely in one of his eyes.

Blaxton yawned, and rubbed his forehead. "Is it morning already?" he asked sleepily.

"No, no, not yet, sweetheart," Elizabeth slid off Jack's legs, and knelt in front of their son. "Why did you wake up? Did you have a bad dream?" she sat down, and pulled the boy onto her lap. Jack reached out, and pulled both of them onto his lap in turn.

"N-no," Blaxton snuggled closer to her, "I just thought it was morning already," he whispered, getting hold of a lock of Elizabeth's hair.

She leaned her head onto Jack's shoulder, and smiled, running her fingers through the child's hair. "No, it's not morning yet."

"Maybe," Blaxton opened his eyes for a moment, but then closed them again. "Maybe sea turtles will swim here in the morning," he suggested in a sleepy voice.

Elizabeth bit her lip to keep from laughing. Jack chuckled, and propped his chin on Elizabeth's head. "Aye, they might," he said, kissing the top of Elizabeth's head.

"And if they don't, we'll burn the rest of the rum and maybe-" Elizabeth stopped in mid-sentence, and giggled feeling Jack's teeth probing on her earlobe.

"I'm sorry I burnt your rum, Dad," whispered Blaxton with a yawn.

"That's alright, mate. Ye were neither the first one, nor the last one to do that, I'm sure," replied Jack matter-of-factly. Elizabeth looked up at him with an amused smile.

"But we hope," Elizabeth tilted her head backwards, her eyes fixed on Jack's face, "that you'll teach your little brother or sister not to do that," she said in a soft voice, but Blaxton did not answer, having already drifted into sleep, his steady breathing ghosting over Elizabeth's neck.

"Aye," agreed Jack automatically, but then his eyes widened, and he blinked several times before slowly shifting his gaze to Elizabeth. "'Lizbeth?" he cupped her face in his hands with a cautious smile.

"You'd better find our ship, Captain Sparrow. Here you have nowhere to hide, and I'm going to be really annoying, I assure you," she said, closing her eyes with a smile when he kissed her softly on the mouth, and rested his forehead against hers.

"I can't wait to see the difference between yer usual demeanor, luv, and being _really annoying_" he said with a chuckle, preventing the slap by kissing her smiling lips again.

**Chapter 4**

"It's so quiet," whispered Elizabeth, and Jack lowered his head to press his cheek to hers.

They sat watching the dark sea in the murmuring silence of the waves repeatedly claiming and letting go of the sand, Elizabeth's back resting against Jack's chest, and his arms wrapped around her, their hands intertwined.

"It's a miracle he didn't wake up when you screamed," muttered Jack, glancing at their son, who was tugging on one of the coat's sleeves in his sleep.

Elizabeth brought her hand up, and patted Jack awkwardly on the face without looking up at him. "I merely... gasped," she corrected, and he smiled feeling her smiling, their cheeks pressed against each other's.

"Aye. That was a very loud gasp," said Jack thoughtfully after a pause, and Elizabeth rolled her eyes, snuggling her face into his chest with a smile.

He propped her chin with his hand and kissed her. "Again?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

She cupped his face in her hands, and rested her forehead against his. "Not until you'll tell me how we're going to get off this island," she said matter-of-factly, tapping her fingers on his face.

"We'll wait for the sea turtles," he said with a pout, pressing his lips to hers.

Elizabeth broke the kiss, and laughed under her breath. "Jack!"

"Shhh. You'll wake our inheritor," whispered Jack, trailing quick kisses across her collarbones.

Elizabeth bit into one of his dreadlocks to keep from laughing, but somehow her own gesture made her laugh even more.

Jack drew back, and shoot her a serious look. "No eating the Captain," he said widening his eyes at her. "I have bad memories connected with being considered eatable," he said rather seriously, but the tone of his voice did not stop Elizabeth from laughing again.

She glanced at Blaxton over her shoulder, but luckily he did not even stir. "Stop making me laugh!" she whispered, inching her face closer to Jack's, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Jack shrugged. "It's not my fault you decided to marry the most amusing, brilliant mind and the most handsome body in the Spanish Main, luv."

Elizabeth captured his lips in a kiss in order not to laugh again. "In the entire ocean!" she corrected in an ardent whisper drawing back for a moment. "Except, that we can't go wherever we want to go, because you don't even know how to get off this bloody island," she added, keeping his face in between her palms.

"Trifles," said Jack with a twitch of his nose. "Especially that we're decently dressed, your honor is secured 'cause we're married, we agreed to get rid of the moral center, and there is plenty of water around to help us keep personal hygiene," he enumerated very quickly.

"Yes, but I'm just curious as to how we're going to live here with only one bottle of rum," she whispered, trying to match the quick pace of his words. "Unless you have a way of persuading me?" she asked, chuckling.

He looked at her for a moment, his facial expression turning serious, even though he was still smiling. "You are this sea... You are this night, and this wind, and the stars... and the tomorrow's sunrise, 'Lizbeth," he whispered, and her smile slowly changed from the amused one to a happy, thoughtful one.

"Persuaded," she mouthed, wrapping her arms around his neck, and snuggling closer. "You won my heart with that sentence... and that storm, you know..." she said, leaning her cheek on his shoulder.

Jack darted his eyes to her. "I thought I won your heart the moment you opened your eyes and saw me!" he said with sincere astonishment.

Elizabeth snorted. "Don't exaggerate. Your looks alone are not all that dazzling," she added, biting back a laugh when she felt him taking a deep, shocked breath, but before he had a chance to protest, or pout, or both, she turned to him, and pushed him onto his back, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss.

* * *

Blaxton woke up with a sigh, rubbed his eyes, and squinted into the sun. He quickly rolled over, and leaped to his feet, looking around interestedly. The sun was already high in the sky, the golden rays piercing through the calm surface of the blue ocean.

Taking a few, preparatory steps backwards, he ran and jumped over the remnants of the bonfire, sending the ashes flying up in the air when his feet touched the ground again. He smiled to himself, and ran towards his parents who lay nearby in the sand, cuddled against each other.

He could not help laughing at the sight of his Dad's nose buried into his Mum's cleavage, his clear laughter quickly succeeding in waking his parents up.

"Whatever you find so amusing on this fine morning, son?" asked Jack, opening his eyes with a shake of his head, and smirking apologetically at Elizabeth, who twitched her nose as several dreadlocks hit her face. She opened one eye and then the other, and then kissed Jack quickly on the cheek and smiled.

"You looked funny!" stated Blaxton, throwing himself in between them, Jack catching him just in time to prevent his head from bumping against the tree behind them.

"Careful, sailor," said Jack sitting him down. "You may want to keep your head _closed_, so others won't see what's inside it," he added, getting up.

"And if I cracked my head open people could see my thoughts?" asked Blaxton with all seriousness.

Elizabeth bit her lip, stifling a chuckle, and combing Blaxton's hair with her fingers, glancing at Jack with a glint of amusement in her eyes.

"'Course they could!" said Jack, widening his eyes at him. "Your thoughts, and... your escape plans, your memories. Everything," he waved his hand. "You wouldn't like that, would you?"

To his parents' surprise, Blaxton pondered this startling piece of information for a moment. "Actually," he said at last, looking away, his brows furrowed, "that could be _kind of_ interesting," he said matter-of-factly, his eyes fixed on the horizon.

Jack raised his eyebrows while Elizabeth looked at their son's profile. "And why would you think that, Blaxtie?" she asked, stroking his hair with a smile.

Blaxton's absent gaze immediately become conscious. He cast his eyes heavenwards, and sighed. "Mum?" he turned around to face her, and Elizabeth looked at him expectantly. "Could you please stop calling me Blaxtie?" he asked cautiously, in a very patient tone of voice.

Jack chuckled, both at the request and at the completely bewildered expression on Elizabeth's face.

* * *

"Did you tell him to say it?" Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at Jack who were examining the oar he had just found half-buried in the sand near the waterline.

Jack's eyes flickered to hers. "Me?!"

"Yes. Why else would he think it's silly," said Elizabeth unhappily.

"Well, maybe he figured it out by himself," suggested Jack, leaving the oar, and walking up to Elizabeth.

"So you think it's silly as well?!"

Jack smirked, and pulled her into his arms, tucking a strand hair behind her ear. "As much as you think the name _Amber_ silly," he said, squinting.

Elizabeth snorted, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I told you already. We won't be naming our daughter after the _rum_!"

"These are two separate words, 'Lizbeth," said Jack defensively.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "And how do you even know it will be a daughter?" she asked, biting her lip to keep from smiling.

"I was right the first time that it would be a son. No reason to doubt that I'm right this time as well," stated Jack with a complacent smile.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to retort, but Blaxton's scream interrupted her.

"Mum! Dad! Look!" he shouted, running toward them, and pointing to the sea.

Jack and Elizabeth turned around, and there she was, the _Black Pearl _sailing unhurriedly in the direction of the island.

"It's the first time she came back by herself," said Jack raising his eyebrows.

Elizabeth bit back a smile. "See? Your life is only getting better and better since you met me."

Jack smiled, his eyes fixed on the ship. Elizabeth rested her head on his shoulder, and they stood together watching the _Black Pearl_ approaching, whileBlaxton kept running along the waterline, waving his hands, and shouting the words of encouragement, urging the ship to sail faster.

* * *

"Captain Gibbs!" exclaimed Jack at the sight of his ex-first mate getting out of the longboat. "Now it all makes sense. You've lost yer ship, and decided to commandeer mine," he said, only half-humorously.

Gibbs chuckled. "No, the _Empress _is just fine, thank you," he said with a smile, and then almost tripped when Blaxton collided with him on his way to greet him.

"So what-" he started, but Gibbs interrupted him:

"It'll be better if you'll se for yourselves!"

* * *

"This is beautiful!" Elizabeth looked around the _Black Pearl _in wonder, admiring all the embellishments, flowers and decorative lanterns making the ship look like a great, sailing castle.

"We wanted to make the ship special for your anniversary, but there was no way to make you leave the ship without making you suspicious, so-"

"Ah, so that was why everybody was coming up with a countless number of ridiculous reasons to make port every day last week," said Jack, shooting a meaningful look at his crew.

"Aye," Gibbs smiled. "So when they told me you were going to stop here, we've figured it would be a perfect occasion to painlessly let our plan come into being, so to speak."

"Painlessly?" Jack brushed a flowery branch hanging from the main mast off his face with a grimace. "An entire night – _one_ bottle of rum. Is that what you considered painless? Not to mention that a fair amount of said one bottle was viciously wasted for the purposes unapproved by me," he added, glancing at Elizabeth and Blaxton, who, however, were not paying any attention to him at the moment, too engrossed by the sudden appearance of a grand table in the middle of the deck.

Blaxton's eyes widened at the entrance of the probably the biggest cake he had ever seen.

"However," Jack cleared his throat, "it accidentally is a very opportune moment to celebrate. We have more than one reason to do so," he said with a smile, and then glanced over his shoulder at the little island slowly vanishing from view. "Third time's a charm, eh?"

"Aye. So they say," nodded Gibbs with a smile.

"I tell you, mate. If all the islands where people get marooned were like this one, nobody would ever want to stay on board." Jack smiled, watching Elizabeth putting a white flower into her hair, and waving at him to come closer. "As long as the rum is not gone, of course," he added with a smirk.

"Of course," agreed Gibbs smilingly, "That's why there is a fresh supply of it in the cellar," he said with a wink.

Jack nodded appreciatively, but then shifted his eyes to Elizabeth, and added in a low voice: "But not all rum," he smiled, "is rum, Mr. Gibbs."

**The End**


End file.
